Thursday 1 May 2025 – for immediate release
Pride Sports, which runs the Football v Homophobia and Football v Transphobia campaigns, is deeply saddened by today’s announcements by the English FA and Scottish FA that transgender women and girls will no longer be allowed to play affiliated women and girls’ football in England and Scotland from the start of next season.
The current policies have operated on a longstanding, case-by-case basis and have been widely welcomed in women’s football communities.
It is clear these abrupt changes have been made on legal advice following the recent UK Supreme Court ruling, as there remains no football-specific peer-reviewed research or evidence that shows the existing policies constitute a safety risk.
Across both England and Scotland, we understand there are less than 30 trans women active in the women’s game, the majority having been playing for a number of years without incident.
Within weeks, they will lose not just their familiar place in football but the many physical and mental health benefits that come from being part of a welcoming team environment. We commiserate with the players, their teammates, and all those impacted.
This decision makes the English FA and the SFA outliers in terms of trans inclusion in the game, with many other European countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, allowing trans women to play.
One consequence of these bans will, inevitably, be a rise in incidents of transphobia in football, which the most recent set of reporting statistics from Kick It Out shows is already rising.
It is imperative that football authorities continue to demonstrate a zero tolerance to transphobic abuse, noting that this type of discrimination does not just affect trans people.
We will continue to campaign for ‘Football for Everyone’, providing education on how the existing inclusion policies already work successfully and have majority support in the women’s game.
Our calls to action will follow.
Watch Football v Transphobia campaign lead Natalie Washington discussing the FA ban on Sky Sports News on Thursday morning…
Notes for editors
About Football v Homophobia
Football v Homophobia (FvH) is an international initiative that exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression at all levels of football.
We want football to take a clear stand against homophobia and transphobia so that everyone can enjoy the beautiful game and football leads the way in removing discrimination and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Learn more here.
The annual Month of Action for the FvH campaign is held every February, in what is also LGBT+ History Month. A Week of Action for Football v Transphobia is held at the end of March.
FvH provides tailored education sessions for people in football of all age groups.
For more news and content relating to FvH, as well as our Football v Transphobia initiative, visit our archive.
Contacts
Lou Englefield, FvH campaign director
lou@footballvhomophobia.com
Jon Holmes, FvH media consultant
jon@footballvhomophobia.com